For this week’s blog post, I watched a video about Alison Bechdel and the Bechdel test. For those who don’t know, Alison Bechdel is a cartoonist who created a test for female representation in film. The Bechdel Test has three parts: there must be two female characters who talk to each other about something besides a man.
I found it extremely interesting, and somewhat problematic, that so many films don’t pass the Bechdel test. The video goes through many well-known, high-grossing films that don’t pass the Bechdel Test. A few examples include Star Wars, Avatar, and The Social Network. I remember seeing a TikTok a while ago where someone went through all of the MCU movies and highlighted that almost none of them passed the Bechdel Test either.
To some, the Bechdel test and positive female representation in film may not seem important. However, as I learned in Psychology earlier this year, it has a profound effect on our society’s view of women. We learn about gender and gender roles by observing our social environment. When we see women in film constantly obsessing over men, our society tends to begin to identify all women as obsessed with and dependent upon men. Media and entertainment play a large role in our forming stereotypes and attitudes.
While I think it’s absolutely a problem that most films still don’t pass this basic test, simply passing the test doesn’t necessarily mean that the portrayal of women in the film is good. The Bechdel Test isn’t a test of feminism or gender equality, but rather a test for whether independent women are even present in films, to begin with. As the video explains, certain movies or shows may pass the Bechdel test, but still have an overall negative representation of women.
Altogether, Alison Bechdel and the Bechdel Test are something that I think everyone should know about and be aware of. It’s not perfect, but it does help us better understand and examine female representation in the media we consume. And representation is extremely important as it affects the way society views women in general.
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I love your perspective on women in entertainment and the Bechdel test really does illustrate just how problematic female representation is within society. I am really glad you chose to shine a light on such a real, deep topic and the information you shared gives such an interesting insight. I love this.
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